Businesses often use the internet as a means of advertisement and marketing. More and more businesses are turning to the internet – and the people now accessible over the internet – to source solutions; improve products, services and advertising; and increase profit. These businesses are utilising what is known as crowd sourcing. This post will analyse what crowd sourcing is, how it is used, and how you can use it yourself.
What is crowd sourcing?
According to the New Oxford American Dictionary (2011), crowd sourcing is “the practice whereby an organization enlists a variety of freelancers, paid or unpaid, to work on a specific task or problem“.
Essentially a company will release information or services in an effort to obtain the assistance and services of the general public by utilising the benefits of modern technology such as the internet. In most cases the general public will return assistance, such as solving a particular problem, to such a company for little to no monetary gain. Even when a member of the public does get paid, it is often at a lot lower cost to the company when compared to the costs of solving the problem internally.
WordPress uses crowd sourcing…
One of the world’s most popular blogging platforms, WordPress, utilises crowd sourcing to develop and debug any new code. WordPress allows users to test beta (and even alpha) versions of new versions in order to find and solve any potential bugs or holes in the system. By allowed anonymous users to test the un-officially released versions of software, the WordPress team can help ensure that the software is tested at minimal cost.
Furthermore the WordPress Trac website is used by thousands to “follow along with the development of WordPress”. The site allows easy tracking of the changes in the Timeline of WordPress – when new features were implemented, when features were fixed, and so forth. The site also allows developers to easily find reported bugs in order for those developers to solve themselves. Wordpress is essentially allowing thousands of people access to its core programming data in order for reliable updates to be pushed out at no cost to themselves.
WordPress produces value to the core products created – the WordPress blogging software – by working closely with the public through beta testing and development. The benefit of collaborating in such a manner means that the community will ultimately receive a higher quality product than what could be created internally by the development team; a product that has produced an effective interface for both developers (computer literate) and users (potentially non-computer literate). The better quality product helps to contribute to the overall industry – promoting the sharing of knowledge and information on the internet.
Dropbox uses crowd sourcing…
Not all companies utilise the crowds found online for solving problems, such as coding bugs. Dropbox uses crowd sourcing, but in a somewhat different manner: a significant feature of the dropbox website – known as Votebox (note that one must be a logged in member to access such a section of the website) – allows users to request features, and then vote on what they would most like to see in future versions. The voting system is completely managed by members, allowing the Dropbox development team to focus purely on the code, and not the tedious tasks of management or advertisements.
How can you use crowd sourcing?
Chances are that you have already used crowd sourcing, in some manner. Most people have used forums, posted questions in online social streams (such as Facebook), used a service such as Yahoo! Answers, and more. The list really does go on.
When it comes to businesses, the list is quite similar. Whilst personally you may provide information, a business will more formally ask for information. A company can release a voting system – to gather information for a particular problem. The company can create forums that allow users to seek help, and even be answered (be it by an employee or an anonymous user). All of this information can then be released, again, in order to help others (such as another person viewing the same forum help topic and finding a solution).
If you are representing a business, and want to get involved with crowd sourcing, one of the simplest ways to get started is by creating a competition. Ask your audience to find you a solution, and offer a prize reward (money, a product, service or even just the fame of being announced the winner). An online blog known as Smashing Magazine promoted one of their newest product releases by allowing users to get involved in order to have their names published in the book.
Have you got any suggestions in how to start off with crowd sourcing?
crowd sourcing. (2011).New Oxford American Dictionary. Retrieved August 17, 2011 from Apple, Inc’s Dictionary app.